Dismantling Racism. The term, growing in use, conveys an apt understanding that this social scourge is large, systemic and complex, with many parts—and that it must be taken apart or demolished from different angles. That is how the Eastern PA Conference is approaching the stubborn sin of racism.

Rev. Sukja Bang featured in Fordham News
Korean-American Polio Survivor and Longtime Pastor Prepares to Counsel Parishioners Rev. Sukja Bang, pastor of Ackermanville UMC in Bangor, is featured in the Fordham News (March 29, 2021), an online publication of Fordham University, where she will receive a D.Min. from the …

Conference members join outcry against anti-Asian American racism
Eastern PA Conference members are joining the outcry of voices speaking out against a reported, nationwide increase in racist verbal and physical attacks against Asian Americans. Those voices are growing in the wake of eight murders of massage parlor workers—including six Asian American women—March 16, in the Atlanta, Ga. Area…

Racism must go, but how to get there?
It’s time — way overdue, in fact — for The United Methodist Church to make progress on racial issues that surpasses the bromides of the past, said Black leaders of the denomination.
Difficult, complicated racial justice issues were raised in 2020 by Black Lives Matters protests and the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol building in Washington, as well as the police killings of African Americans including George Floyd in Minneapolis, Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky, and Daniel Prude in Rochester, New York.
Wesley to offer workshops on Leading Anti-Racist Change
Wesley Theological Seminary will present a 3-part workshop series, To Serve This Present Age: Leading Anti-Racist Change, on Zoom, March 4, April 8 and April 29, 4:30 to 6:00 PM. The seminary’s African American Church Studies Program and Community Engagement …

Dismantling Racism II to explore Latinx experience with racism
The Conference’s next Dismantling Racism—Level 2 training event will explore “The Hispanic/Latino (Latinx) Experience—Racism: the Struggle is Real!” All are invited to participate in what should be a fascinating, three-hour webinar on Zoom, on Saturday, Feb. 27, from 9 AM to noon.Register online …

A Charter for Racial Justice
A Charter for Racial Justice Policies in an Interdependent Global Community From The Book of Resolutions of the UMC— 2016. You can view and learn more about the charter on the UMW website: www.unitedmethodistwomen.org/racialjusticecharter
Racial Justice Conversation Guide
Racial Justice Conversation Guide – This article is presented by GCORR, culled from the resources available on their website at www.gcorr.org. Please use and share this information as a follow-up to the Bishop’s request for action in response to the crisis and …
Information about Clergy Serving in Cross-Racial/Cross-Cultural Appointments
The UMC Book of Discipline: Paragraph 425.4 Cross-racial and cross-cultural appointments are made as a creative response to increasing racial and ethnic diversity in the church and in its leadership. Cross-racial and cross-cultural appointments are appointments of clergypersons to congregations …

Advocacy Statement by the Commission on Religion and Race – February 10, 2021
An Advocacy Statement by the Commission on Religion and Race, Eastern Pennsylvania Conference of The United Methodist Church Co-chairpersons: the Rev. Susan Worrell and the Rev. Alicia Julia-Stanley “We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not …